Greater Manchester Police are reviewing their decision not to investigate Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, over claims she may have broken electoral law. The reassessment follows a complaint from Conservative MP James Daly, who argued that relevant witnesses or documents had not been considered.
Daly, the Conservative deputy chair, originally asked the force to investigate after Rayner faced questions about whether she was liable to pay capital gains tax on the sale of her former council house. She sold the property in Vicarage Road, Stockport, in 2015 for a reported £48,500 profit before becoming an MP.
Rayner insists the property was her principal home, despite her then partner living elsewhere at the time. Government guidance states tenants can buy their council home through right-to-buy only if it is their only or main home, and HMRC rules say married couples can count only one property as their primary residence.
In a letter to Daly, Detective Chief Inspector Cheryl Hughes confirmed she had been asked to review the circumstances and reassess the decision. A GMP spokesperson said: 'We have received a complaint regarding our decision not to investigate an allegation and are in the process of reassessing this decision.'
Rayner has dismissed the controversy as a 'manufactured' smear. She told BBC's Newsnight: 'I've been very clear there's no rules broken. They tried to manufacture a police investigation. It's a non-story.' Daly has also written to Stockport council to ask about electoral roll information submitted by Rayner during the relevant period.
